Nvidia has now officially launched its entry-level Geforce GT 710 graphics card based on Kepler GPU, saying that it is up to 10 times faster than most integrated graphics solutions, and EVGA has a full lineup ready.

According to Nvidia, the new Geforce GT 710 is not only up to 10 times faster than "most integrated graphics solutions" but it is also around 70 percent faster than the previous generation, GT 610, and also offers multi-monitor support for up to three HD displays.

The Geforce GT 710 is based on an older Kepler GPU with 192 CUDA cores and will be available with either 1GB or 2GB of DDR3 memory paired up with a 64-bit memory interface. It is obvious that this is a significant boost from 64 CUDA cores on the GT 610. The GPU on the GT 710 is clocked at 954MHz while memory will be clocked at up to 1800MHz.

As expected, the Geforce GT 710 does not need a PCI-Express power connector, which means that its TDP is lower than 75W it draws from the PCI-Express slot. To be precise and according to Nvidia's specification page, the TDP of the GT 710 is set at 19W. EVGA is a bit more precise as the TDP listed at EVGA's specification page is set at 25W.

Alienware recently refreshed its Alienware 13 notebook, with a fresh Geforce GTX 960M graphics core, making it a bit more attractive for gamers. The previous version used Geforce GTX 860M graphics, which is being replaced by a faster GTX 960M Maxwell GPU.

Years later, Alienware introduced its own version that uses both Nvidia and AMD graphics cards, called Graphics Amplifier. This is a custom made, external graphics card that will transform your Alienware 13, 15 or 17 R2 to a gaming powerhouse.

These are the cards that the company offers at its website, but you are free to buy and add your own graphics card. This week the company dropped the price of the Graphics Amplifier from the original $299.99 to $174.99, making it much more attractive.

Amazing performance increase for $174.99 + Desktop GPU price

The company recently tested Alienware Graphics Amplifier on the Metra 2033 Redux game and Alienware 15 notebook and showed an amazing performance increase.

The Alienware 15 with Intel i7-4710HQ, Nvidia GTX980M, 16GB DDR3, SSD + HDD combo already scores high at 1080p, and the game would score on average between 35 and 40 FPS. However, once they paired the Alienware 15 with the Alienware Graphics Amplifier and desktop GTX 980 the average FPS increased to an average or 55 to 60+ FPS which is a clear performance leap for mobile gamers. You can check the video at the YouTube link down below for more details.

Alienware also shared some slides from there internal testing where you can see 40 to 120 percent performance increases in 3Dmark 11 or Tomb Raider game on various Alienware notebooks including 13, 14, 15 and 17-inch models. The best part is that the Graphics Amplifier can be upgraded with the next generation graphics cards as long as they come with PCIe interface and fit the power profile.

While we wait for the official launch of the new Nvidia Geforce GTX 960, which should happen in a couple of days according to the latest rumors, we now have what appear to be first pictures of the new GTX Titan graphics card from Nvidia.

While there aren't any specific details regarding the pictured graphics card at Chinese Tieba.Baidu site which actually leaked these pictures, there is a clear picture of Nvidia's 28nm GM200 GPU which has been rumored to pack no less than 3072 CUDA cores, 96 ROPs and 12GB of GDDR5 memory paired up with a 384-bit memory interface.

Spotted by Techpowerup.com, the display outputs on the prototype board are pretty much identical to the ones found on the GTX 980, despite the lack of the DVI output. Unfortuantely, the pictures do not include the VRM part so we are not sure what will the maximum TDP be but we doubt that Nvidia will include more than 6+8-pin PCI-Express power connectors.

The pictured Maxwell-based GM200 GPU appears to bigger than the Kepler-based GK110 so Nvidia will most likely have to either change or update the cooler design.

Nvidia has previously launched GTX Titan graphics cards in February so it is possible that the GTX Titan-X, as it is usually called, will launch in the same timeframe, although Nvidia might push it to the end of March as well. In any case, we will keep an eye out for it and more information about it.

Nvidia has announced its newest entry-level discrete graphics card, the Geforce GT 720.

Based on the 28nm GK208 Kepler GPU, the new entry-level Geforce GT 720 packs 192 CUDA cores and features a 64-bit memory interface paired up with either 1 or 2GB of DDR3 or GDDR5 memory. According to Nvidia's specification list, the base GPU clock is set at 797MHz while memory is clocked at 1.8GHz for the DDR3 and 5.0GHz for the GDDR5 memory versions. Thus, the GT 720 offers either 14.4GB/s (DDR3) or 40GB/s (GDDR5) of memory bandwidth.

The GPU supports DirectX 12 and OpenGL 4.4, standard set of display connectors include Dual-link DVI-D, HDMI and VGA and the graphics card power is set at 19W.

The Geforce GT 720 now holds the lowest-end of Nvidia's Geforce GT 700 series lineup, while the rest of the GT 600 lineup is still listed as available.

Due to its design and low TDP, most, if not all Nvidia partners will most decide to go with a low-profile designs, along with some passive designs.

While Nvidia did not announce any details regarding the price or the availability date of the GT 720, most partners have already announced their graphics cards and you can expect them to hit retail soon with a price US $49.99.

Asus has announced yet another graphics card under its Republic of Gamers brand, the GTX 760 based Asus ROG GTX 760 Striker graphics card with 4GB of GDDR5 memory. To be available in Standard and Platinum versions, the ROG GTX 760 Striker is and will probably be the fastest GTX 760 on the market and features Asus' own new DirectCU II cooler, CoolTech fan, DIGI+ VRM as well a rather impressive factory overclock.

According to Asus, the new Republic of Gamers GTX 760 Striker Platinum graphics cards features cherry-picked GPUs ensuring that they can handle a rather impressive factory-overclock of 1085MHz for the base GPU and 1150MHz for the GPU Boost clock. The new DirectCU II cooler with two fans, one of which is CoolTech fan, should ensure that there is no throttling in any scenario. The Standard version of the ROG GTX 760 ended up at 980MHz base and 1033MHz GPU Boost clocks.

Based on Nvidia 28nm Kepler GK104 GPU, both versions of the ROG GTX 760 Striker pack 1152 CUDA cores, 96 TMUs and 32 ROPs, but unlike most GTX 760 on the market, also come with 4GB of GDDR5 memory clocked at 6008MHz on both versions of the ROG GTX Striker graphics card.

In order to sweeten the deal, the ROG GTX 760 Striker graphics card also features the new ROG LED logo on top of the cooler which also doubles as the load indicator and should change shade depending on the actual load on the GPU. The Asus ROG GTX 760 Striker also comes with Asus' own GPU Tweak overclocking utility as well as the GPU Tweak Streaming tool.

According to Asus, the new ROG GTX 760 Striker should be available in retail/e-tail as of this month but it did not shed any light on the actual price of the new premium GTX 760.

The upcoming Maxwell-based GTX 750 Ti is rumored to be coming in February and now we have some of the first alleged performance numbers coming from the Coolarer.com. Expected to be positioned between the GTX 660 and the GTX 760, it appears that the upcoming GTX 750 Ti might actualy end up slower than the GTX 660 and fit in-between the GTX 650 Ti Boost and the GTX 660.

While these performance numbers should be taken with a grain of salt, considering that they done with early version of the driver, the fact that the GTX 750 Ti ends up anywhere between 10 to 15 percent slower in Futuremark's 3DMark, Unigine Valley and Final Fantasy XIV games, definitely does not sound good.

Of course, we are still missing precise specifications as well as more details regarding the GTX 750 Ti and we will hopefully see more as we draw closer to the rumored February launch date.

A leaked roadmap coming from notebook manufacturer Clevo suggesting that we might see new Nvidia Geforce 800M series mobile parts as early as February. The lineup will most likely be based on at least a couple of rebranded Kepler GPUs but the roadmap did not offer any details.

The leaked lineup starts with entry-level Geforce GT 840M and Geforce GTX 850M (although it is most likely GT 850M). These two will most likely be based on Kepler architecture and be rebrands of some earlier mobile GPUs. Of course, we will be sure as soon as we see some specifications. Both the 840M and the 850M will be equipped with 2GB of DDR3 memory.

The odd member is the GTX 860M that fits in both entry and mid-range segment and pack 2GB of DDR5 memory. The high-end lineup includes the GTX 880M and the GTX 870M and according to Clevo's roadmap, the GTX 880M and the GTX 860M will show up in a couple of Clevo notebook models running in SLI configuration. Unfortunately, the roadmap does not shed any light on the memory configuration of the GTX 880M or the GTX 870M as we guess that the number on top refers to system memory, rather than video one.

Although it is not clear if OEMs like Clevo will get it in February or we will actually see some notebook with new Nvidia Geforce 800M parts on retail/e-tail shelves in February, we are quite sure we will hear more about them during CES 2014.

Asia started buzzing again. Nvidia’s GK110 and GK104 chips are slowly becoming yesterday's news as the company plans to start shipping the new Geforce and CUDA core codenamed Maxwell.

From what we heard the new Maxwell based graphics cards are coming in Q1 2014 and shipping in the same quarter. Multiple sources have confirmed that there will be Maxwell based cards in retail and etail before the end of March 2014. This is quite big news for GPU lovers, as Maxwell should be much more power efficient than Kepler. According to Nvidia’s roadmap it is supposed to have four times the Dual Precision Gflops per watt compared to Kepler. According to the same roadmap Maxwell has been pushed from 2013 to 2014 which implies a slight delay from the original plan.

Our multiple sources do agree on the Q1 2014 shipping to customers timeframe, but they are not aware if this is another 28nm or first 20nm graphics chip to hit the market. We can only speculate as we don’t know for sure at this point.

GPU performance lovers as well as Tesla compute performance enthusiasts will like this core as it can offer much more performance per watt than any previous generation including Kepler. The question remains if Nvidia plans to officially introduce this card before March 24 2014, the first day of its GPU technology conference, of if the launch happens a bit earlier. In case Nvidia wants to ship cards to customers, that will have to mean that it has the production right now, as it takes time to ramp these chips to decent yields. We are thrilled as it promises another eventful and competitive year in the PC GPU arena and we are quite sure that AMD is not sleeping.

From what our sources can confirm, Maxwell ships to customers in the form of retail graphics cards by the end of March.

Nvidia is about to release its quarterly report later today and Wall Street doesn’t appear to be very optimistic. Analysts estimate Nvidia’s EPS will dip to $0.20, down 39 percent year-on-year. Revenues are also expected to fall 12.6 percent to $1.05 billion, down from $1.2 billion a year ago. Although Nvidia has a habit of beating estimates, even if it does it won’t be enough. Revenue has been going up for three quarters and now it will be in the red. The stock price has been virtually flat since June, gaining just one percent since August.

Nvidia is clearly trying to send a message, so let’s take a look at what’s behind its PR onslaught.

In terms of parallel computing, Nvidia’s GRID - Amazon SaaS make sense and Nvidia has a lot to offer in this interesting niche. The announcement is just part of Nvidia’s strategy to offer a range of GPU virtualization services, cloud gaming or Gaming as a Service (GaaS) and of course streaming, Nvidia’s darling tech of 2013. However, the potential long-term benefits of these emerging technologies don’t appear to be impressing too many investors or analysts. We on the other hand believe Nvidia’s strategy is sound, although it will take years to implement, no short term gains here.

The Currys and PC World deal is indicative of another trend, which is a bit easier to grasp. As we reported months ago, Nvidia’s Tegra business is in trouble. Tegra 4 was late, it lacked LTE and as a result it didn’t gain many design wins. Nvidia expects Tegra revenue to decline $200 to $300 million this year from about $750 million last year.

The decision to launch the Tegra Note 7 and Shield console was viewed with suspicion by many in the industry. Skeptics said the products were basically designed to get the Tegra 4 into more products, but as more details surfaced it became obvious that Nvidia is planning to support some innovative features like Gamestream in its Tegra 4 gear. The company has never released any Shield shipment figures and the Tegra Note 7 is expected to go on sale next week. The tablet was supposed to be sold through Nvidia’s network of AIB partners, but the UK deal may point to a new approach – Nvidia could let retail chains sell the tablet under their own brand, and possibly the same could apply to future products, including phones. Investors should like the idea – AIBs could go after their regular clientele, i.e. enthusiasts, while retailers could target the general public.

We will not go into plenty of technical details and talk about the upcoming LTE-enabled Tegra 4i application processor, other than to say that the first products based on the new chip should appear in early 2014 – the chip could be disruptive, as LTE support is lacking in mid-range offerings. Nvidia could go head to head with Mediatek and to some extent Qualcomm with the T4i and the chip should enjoy a relative lead in this market segment until the first A12-based products start shipping later in 2014.

We left the core GPU business for last, not because we are leaving the best for last, but because that appears to be what Nvidia has been doing the last couple of years. AMD’s introduction of R7 and R9 R200-series was disruptive to say the least. AMD went a lot cheaper than many observers expected and it forced Nvidia into two rounds of price cuts – yet another one is looming. AMD’s pricing will undoubtedly erode Nvidia’s margins in the mid-range and especially in the high-end. This is something we have covered extensively over the last month or so.

Nvidia’s high-margin professional graphics business is doing just fine and as always it’s a cash cow. AMD thinks it could do more in the professional space and in terms of hardware it could – the new Hawaii-based R9 290-series cards have a lot of potential. However, the professional market is not as dynamic as the consumer GPU space and AMD still has a long way to go, namely on the software front. We don’t think Nvidia’s cash cow is in much trouble.

We shouldn't expect much from Nvidia over the next quarter, but things should start to pick up by February. The company will introduce the Tegra 5 and Tegra 4i in early 2014 and with its Kepler GPU, Tegra 5 is already looking a lot more competitive than its predecessor - it has a lot of potential and it could gain a lot more design wins than the Tegra 4. Later in the year the company will release its next generation Maxwell GPU architecture. Until these new products go online, Nvidia's revenues and margins will remain unimpressive. It's looking like a cold, long winter for Nvidia, but once it emerges from hibernation things should get very interesting indeed.

At its Montreal event, Nvidia showcased that it can record the last 20 minutes of your game gameplay. It can even stream directly to Twitch and it should not affect gameplay. It should be a one-click broadcast solution and you will need to have a Kepler GPU. It should work with every game.

Tom Peterson, Director of technical marketing, showcased what the new Geforce Experience looks like. You basically get Shadowplay options in the new Geforce Experience suite that is coming on October 28. You can turn on the streaming in Geforce Experience and you can stream in many resolutions including 1080p and up to 60 FPS.

Peterson showcased 720p video at 60FPS and a captured gameplay segment from Splinter Cell Blacklist that didn’t have any impact on performance.